Changes
by junodog
Summary: A crossover between Fullmetal Alchemist and Star Wars. This one takes place mostly during Attack of the Clones, or somewhere around there... Edward meets ObiWan as a young child, and meets him again ten years later. mangabased.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, another one of my crossover fanfictions, this time with Star Wars, Episodes I and II, and possibly III, but with those characters, so yeah… Here it is…

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Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi were on a mission. Just recently, a new solar system had been discovered, and at least one of the planets had intelligent life on it. From what the scanners and such had discovered, the technology on the planet wasn't very advanced, and the only intelligent life was human beings, so the Jedi Council had decided it would be best for two humans to check things out.

Once they got decently close to the planet, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan got into a small speeder and flew in towards the planet. It was fairly populated, and they searched for a decent place to land.

After a while, they landed in the woods near a small village. Of course, they had landed at night, and they had turned on a stealth shield, but they didn't want to take any chances. These people could be hostile, and the less people that knew about them, the better.

They had found out about the people's basic ways of life, so they could blend in easily. At the moment, they were wearing clothes that many civilians wore. They came to the center of town, where there was a station for some sort of wheeled transport. Obi-Wan was intrigued by the seemingly primitive technology that was a big part of this world. He hoped that the people were more civilized.

At the station, Obi-Wan noticed a woman with two small boys. The woman was struggling with something heavy, and although the boys were trying to help, they were too small to do anything.

Obi-Wan exchanged glances with his master. This would be a good chance to befriend one of the locals. They decided to help the woman.

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Trisha Elric, as she introduced herself, was very grateful for the help. She led Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon through the countryside to her small house. The two young boys walked beside her, and once they arrived at the house, they began fighting about something.

Trisha tried to break up the fight, but the boys were stubborn. Eventually, the brown-haired one triumphed and ran away. Trisha went after him once she made sure her other son hadn't been injured.

Obi-Wan kneeled down beside the small boy. "Are you okay?"

The boy nodded, and stood up. Qui-Gon moved down to his level as well. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced. My name is Qui-Gon Jinn. What's your name?"

"Edward."

"It's nice to meet you, Edward. What were you fighting with your brother about?"

"Hmph. Alphonse is being annoying, he keeps talking about how I messed up his favorite book."

"And did you?"

"Only a little. I didn't mean to."

Obi-Wan smiled inwardly. _How nice it must be to have a problem like this be the biggest problem in your life._ He stood up.

Qui-Gon seemed to realize something. "So, where's your father?" he asked.

Edward shook his head. "Don't know. He left."

"And you don't know where he went?"

"Nope. It's making Mom sad. She cries when she thinks we don't see her."

Obi-Wan immediately changed his mind about what he had thought before. "So, it's just you three?"

"And Winry. We see Winry a lot."

"Who's Winry?"

"She's my friend. Al's friend too, but I like her more."

"Does she live nearby?"

Edward nodded, and pointed to a house in the distance. "She lives there with her parents and Grandma Pinako. We're going there for dinner tonight, actually."

"Sounds like fun."

At this point, Trisha returned, dragging Alphonse behind her. She smiled at the two Jedi and let go of Alphonse, who immediately ran inside. Edward looked conflicted for a moment, and then ran inside after his brother. Trisha watched as Edward went inside and closed the door behind him.

"Sorry about that. I don't know what's gotten into them."

"Not a problem. They seem like very good boys."

"They are. They're also very talented alchemists."

"Alchemists?"

"Yes, they inherited their father's talent. He would be proud if he could see them. So, what are you doing in our little village of Resembool? It's not like there's much to see here."

"We're just passing through."

"Oh, okay."

Edward and Alphonse came outside again. Whatever issues they had seemed to be resolved, because they were both very happy. They ran up to their mother and pulled on her dress.

"Mother, guess what we made!" Edward said as Alphonse pulled something from behind his back. It was a small toy.

Trisha took the toy and looked at it. "You transmuted this?"

"Yep."

"Wow, it's very nice! Good job!"

The boys looked at each other and smiled. Then, Edward looked up at Obi-Wan. "Wanna see me transmute something?" he asked.

"All right."

Edward found a nearby stick and began drawing a circle on the ground. Once he finished, he put his hands on it. Obi-Wan was rather startled as there was a flash of light, and then a small figure rose out of the ground. Obi-Wan assumed it was an animal of some sort.

"Very impressive," Qui-Gon said. Edward smiled again.

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They spent the next few days in Resembool. Edward seemed to regard Obi-Wan as a hero, because he followed him around a lot. After a while, he started asking Obi-Wan questions.

"Hey, where are you from?" he asked as he drew a circle on a piece of paper.

"We're from very far away."

"Are you aliens?"

Obi-Wan laughed. "No, we're not aliens. We're humans, just like you."

"Can you do alchemy?"

"No, but I can do other things."

"Like what?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because, it's a secret."

Ed pouted. "That's no fun."

"No, I suppose it isn't. So, what are you making this time?"

"I'm gonna make a horse!"

"Really? That sounds exciting!"

Ed placed a block of wood on the circle and pressed his hands against it. There was a flash of light, and a small four-legged creature emerged from the wood.

"Very nice," Obi-Wan said. Ed grabbed it and placed it in Obi-Wan's hands.

"It's a present, so you remember me when you leave. You said you'd be going soon, didn't you?"

"I did, didn't I? Yes, we're leaving very early tomorrow."

"Where are you going?"

"We're going back to where we live."

"So you're going far away?"

"Yes."

"Are you gonna come back ever?"

"We might. If we do, I'll be sure to stop by."

Ed smiled again, his golden eyes shining.


	2. Chapter 2

Second part… not much else to say… Well, actually ten years have passed, so that's kinda important to know…

Anakin Skywalker walked with his master to the (elevator?). The Jedi Council had summoned them, saying something about a place called "Amestris." Anakin hadn't ever heard of a place called Amestris. Obi-Wan seemed to know, but he wouldn't say anything about it.

Anakin paid attention to every word the Council said, hoping to know more about this world. The only clue he got was that Obi-Wan had been there before, and that its technology was very far behind that of the rest of the galaxy. He had hopes of finding out more, though, since they had just been assigned to go this world.

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They flew in a fairly large shuttle from Coruscant to a point close to the planet. From there, they got onto a small speeder built for two people. Anakin flew, and he waited for Obi-Wan to tell him more about his previous trip.

Obi-Wan waited until they were almost there before he spoke to Anakin. "I know you want to know about this place. The last time I came here, we didn't get to see much of it, but the people, despite the fact that they don't have very advanced technology, are very much like people everywhere."

"How many people did you meet?"

"There were only two families that I really interacted with, but I saw a lot of other people."

"So, these two families, are you planning on visiting them again?"

"It would be to our advantage."

"Oh, I get it. So, who are these people?"

"One is a woman with her two sons, and the other is a couple with a daughter. The children are all a few years younger than you."

"Would they still be in there?"

"As far as I know, the Rockbell home has been there for a long time. I doubt that they'll have moved away."

"What about the other family?"

"Those brothers are very good friends with the youngest Rockbell. They'll probably still be there. Oh, before I forget. On this planet, something exists called alchemy. The Elric brothers were beginning to study it, and it's a very interesting science."

"How so, master?"

"You'll see."

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Obi-Wan and Anakin made their way to the small planet. It had been ten years since Obi-Wan had been there last. Things had probably changed quite a bit.

Obi-Wan had Anakin land the ship in the same forest as last time. He was rather curious about the Elric family. Once the sun rose, they made their way to the small house. Neither one knew what to expect.

Obi-Wan was rather surprised at what they found there. Nothing was left of the Elric home except for some wooden beams, blackened by flames. Almost immediately Obi-Wan feared the worst, and he decided to go to the Rockbell home, to find out what had happened.

The only person in the Rockbell home was Pinako. She recognized Obi-Wan fairly quickly, and seemed happy to see him.

"It's nice to see you again. Good timing, too. Ed was just about to leave."

"Leave?"

"Yes, he's heading back to Central today. If you wait here for a moment, he'll be down in a bit."

"All right." Pinako went back inside.

Anakin and Obi-Wan exchanged glances. "So, at least one of the boys is alive."

"Yes. I wonder if he'll remember me."

"Who could ever forget you?"

Obi-Wan groaned at this somewhat sarcastic remark.

After a moment, a boy came through the front door. He had the same blonde hair and gold eyes that Obi-Wan remembered, but a few things were different. His hair was long and braided, his right hand was a prosthetic, and Obi-Wan hadn't expected him to be so short.

"Um, hi…" Ed said, looking at Obi-Wan curiously. "Heh, I didn't think you'd actually come back."

"And why's that?"

"Dunno, I just didn't." Ed looked at him again. "I'm guessing you stopped by my house first?"

"Yes, we did. What happened?"

Ed looked down at his right hand. "A lot of things happened. It's just me and Al now."

"Your mother died?"

"Yeah, not too long after you left. She was sick."

"I'm sorry to hear that. How's Al doing?"

"He's fine, he's in Central right now." Ed looked over at Anakin. "Who's this?" he asked.

"Oh, this is Anakin Skywalker."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Edward Elric." Ed and Anakin shook hands, and then Ed turned to go inside. "I'm actually leaving for Central now, do you want to come? Since I doubt you've been there before…"

"All right."

Ed came out a moment later wearing a coat and gloves. He was also carrying a suitcase. "All right, let's go."

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Ed sat on the bench, waiting for the train to arrive. It was weird to have Obi-Wan around again, especially since his life had changed so much. He figured he'd have to tell him about what he and Al had done. He didn't know why, but it felt like Obi-Wan was wielding a certain amount of power.

Once the train arrived, Ed noticed a doubtful look on Anakin's face. Ed remembered the day Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had left. They had gone to the train station early that morning, at a time when Ed would usually be asleep. Ed had woken up early, though, and he had followed them to the station. Once they had gotten a fair distance away from the house, though, they had headed towards the woods. Ed had followed them there, and the next memory he'd had was so insane that he still wasn't sure if it had been a dream.

_Obi-Wan had seen Ed, and Ed found himself treated to a lecture about following people. He managed to throw the argument back at them, though._

"_You said you were going to take the train!" He yelled, pointing an accusing finger._

_Qui-Gon took over for Obi-Wan at this point. He kneeled down to Ed's eye level, and spoke in a low voice._

"_We said that because we can't have anybody know where we're really from."_

"_Not even me?" Ed asked._

"_Well, how good are you at keeping secrets?"_

Ed remembered Qui-Gon telling him about Coruscant, and the republic, and a bunch of other things that he wouldn't have believed if he hadn't seen a space movie earlier that month, and if they hadn't taken off in a ship moments later. Ed still wondered why Qui-Gon had trusted him so much, but he'd probably never know now, since Obi-Wan said Qui-Gon had been killed.

Ed snapped back to reality as the train began to move. Anakin still looked doubtful that the train would move at all, but Ed didn't care. He'd been on trains before, and he knew that although it wasn't as good as the technology on Coruscant, it was still good enough to get them from Resembool to Central in one piece. Assuming nobody tried to hijack the train.

Eventually, Ed became very bored, and he fell asleep. He woke up just before they had to get off and switch trains. Anakin didn't look as skeptical now, and they made it to the other train without a problem.


	3. Chapter 3

Eh… part three… no big news for this one…

Ed looked out the window of the train for a while. He knew what he had to do, but he didn't want to do it. He knew that it was a weird scenario to come back to: a house burned down to the ground, and a teenage boy with a prosthetic arm. It wasn't something Ed wanted to bring up, so he waited for somebody else to ask about it.

Once they were an hour or so from Central, Ed realized that they weren't going to ask. He kept looking out the window, thinking about what had happened before he had left Central. There was a lot to work out when he got back.

Finally, they arrived in Central. They walked through the station, and Ed led them to the hotel. On the way, a military policeman stopped Ed. Apparently Ed looked suspicious, but Ed just showed the man his watch and continued on his way.

Anakin decided to comment about this. "What's with the watch?" he asked.

"Oh, this?" Ed replied, holding up his watch. "It's something you get when you become a State Alchemist."

"A State Alchemist?"

"Yeah, it's pretty much being an alchemist with authority in the military."

"And they let children join?"

"Well, if you're good enough, then yeah. I'm actually the youngest."

"Impressive."

"But why did you join?"

Ed stopped walking. There it was. There was no way he'd be able to keep the truth a secret. "It was so I could find a way to help Al."

"Help him with what?"

"When I lost my arm, Al lost a lot more. We're trying to find a way to fix things."

"How can you fix the fact that you lost your arm?"

_Jeez, this guy doesn't know when to shut up, does he?_ Ed thought. "You don't know anything about alchemy, do you?"

"No, I don't."

"Then you wouldn't know anything about human transmutation, and the consequences it has."

"No."

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At this point in time, Obi-Wan had a decent understanding of the events of the past ten years. He gave Anakin a look to make him shut up, and they kept walking.

"Just to warn you, Al doesn't look at all like he used to," Ed remarked. "I mean, he's completely different."

"How so?"

"He doesn't have a body anymore."

"What…"

"It got taken away. I managed to bond his soul to a suit of armor, but that came at the cost of my arm."

"Bond his soul…?"

"You can do a lot with alchemy. Just not everything."

"Wait, at the cost of your arm…?"

"Hey, the main idea of alchemy is equivalent exchange."

"But how is an arm the equivalent of a soul?"

"I have no idea, I've had more important things to worry about."

They got to the hotel. Obi-Wan and Anakin waited outside, because Ed had a lot to deal with at the moment. Once he had taken care of everything, he came back outside.

"I have some stuff to take care of in town, so if you want a tour…" They started walking. After a while, they came to a street that was blocked off by military personnel. Ed caught somebody's attention and asked what was going on.

"There's a terrorist group holding a bunch of people hostage. I think they're asking for the release of one of their leaders."

"Oh, jeez. Don't they ever learn? Hey, can you wait here for a moment?"

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Ed made his way through the crowd to the military blockade. He showed his watch to one of the military police, who brought him over to a group of people huddled around a paper. One of the people noticed him, and came up to him.

"Thank you for coming. Do you understand what's going on?"

"No, I just found out about this, actually."

"I see. Well, here's the basic situation. There's a group of about ten people being held hostage in that building over there. They're being held by a fairly large group, and the leader has threatened to shoot them all if we don't do what they ask."

"What are they asking for?"

"They haven't told us yet."

"What? That's a little…"

"Yeah, I know."

"So, what do you want me to do?"

"They're demanding that somebody with a fairly high status acts as negotiator."

"And since I'm a State Alchemist, I qualify for this? What do I need to do?"

"We have their word that they won't harm whoever comes. All you have to do is go up there and negotiate."

"Okay, sounds easy enough."

"But, you have to go alone. And unarmed."

"All right, I'll just go like this, then."

"You don't have any weapons with you?"

"Nope."

"What about a transmutation circle?"

"Haven't you heard? The Fullmetal Alchemist doesn't need a transmutation circle."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Ed sighed. "So, I just walk into the building?"

"Yes, and they've requested that you tie this around your sleeve, so that they know you're the negotiator." The man held out a strip of white cloth. Ed tied it around his arm and walked towards the building.

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Almost immediately, people with machine guns surrounded Ed. He was checked for weapons, and when they deemed him clean, they led him up the stairs into a small room.

Inside the room was a man in his early thirties. He looked up when Ed came in, and stood up.

"So, I ask for a high-ranking officer and they send a child. Do they want those people to die?"

Ed glared at the man. "Who says I'm not high-ranking?" He pulled out his watch and showed it to the man.

"Feh. They could have just given that to you to trick us."

"Why would they do that?"

"So that they wouldn't lose somebody important."

"Who says I'm not important?" Ed clapped his hands together and formed a blade on his right arm. Almost immediately there were several guns pointed at his head. Ed clapped his hands again and got rid of the blade.

"So, you can use alchemy. Big deal."

"I'm not just any alchemist. I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Why should I believe you?"

Ed shook his head. "Look, it's not my problem if you don't believe me. I'm just here to negotiate."

"Oh, you think we'd really make it that easy?"

Ed looked around. He was surrounded by at least ten people, each armed with a machine gun that was pointed at his head.

"So, your goal is to kill me?"

"Don't be so naïve."

"Then what's your goal?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

Ed was about to respond when he felt something very big and hard hit the back of his head. He fell to the ground, suffering from a very bad headache. The last thing he saw was the man's laughing face, then everything was black.


	4. Chapter 4

Part four…

Obi-Wan had been keeping track of Ed's presence with the Force. He felt it waver, as if Ed had been knocked unconscious. He made his way through the crowd, wanting to find out what had happened. Once he made it to the front, he saw a bunch of people walking out of a building. They looked like they were the hostages. Obi-Wan was confused. It didn't seem like they would just let these people go that easily.

It took Obi-Wan a moment to understand what had happened. These people had set up a trap. The only thing they had wanted was to capture a State Alchemist, and now they had one.

Obi-Wan was about to go after Ed when a small boy pulled on his pant leg. "Excuse me…"

"What is it?"

"Those bad people wanted me to give this to you." The boy gave Obi-Wan a small package and ran off. Obi-Wan decided to wait to read the note attached, and walked back through the crowd to join Anakin. He led his padawan a distance away from the crowd, and opened the package.

Inside there was a silver watch. Obi-Wan recognized the watch as Ed's. He read the note, and walked very briskly towards the train station.

"We have to get back to Coruscant."

"Why?"

"Because that's where we'll find Ed."

"But what about the mission?"

"The mission was to find the Fullmetal Alchemist and protect him. And, guess who the Fullmetal Alchemist is."

"Wait, so that boy's the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"Correct. And we just let him fall into enemy hands."

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Ed woke up with a searing headache. He was flat on his back, his hands and feet held down by something metal. Once his head didn't hurt so much, he tried to break loose, but it didn't work.

After a moment, a face came into view. It was a man, and he was smiling. "So, you're awake."

"Where the hell am I?" Ed asked.

The man didn't answer. Instead, he began talking about something else. "I'm sorry about all this, but we didn't want you to do anything drastic and accidentally destroy the ship."

"What are you talking about?"

"To put it simply, you are on a ship that's heading to Coruscant. If you try to escape and destroy one of the outer walls, you'll end up in space, and die. There's no air in space."

Ed could barely believe it. It was like when he was little, only he was actually in space now.

"So, will you behave if I let you go?"

Ed nodded. He didn't have any desire to test this man's words, and he didn't much care for being stuck in such an awkward position. The man disappeared from Ed's field of vision, and Ed felt the metal things come loose. He sat up and looked around.

"This is where you'll stay until we reach our destination. If you don't like it, then that's too bad, because I'm not being paid to make you comfortable."

Ed glared at the man. He didn't like the idea of being a prisoner, especially since he had a lot to do.

"Now, don't blame me for this. I was merely instructed to transport the Fullmetal Alchemist from his world to Coruscant. If you want to blame somebody, blame those two Jedi."

"What, you mean Obi-Wan and Anakin? Why would I blame them?"

"Because they were assigned to protect you."

Ed was dumbfounded. He had no idea what was going on, and he had no clue why Obi-Wan hadn't mentioned any of this to him. Then he realized, Obi-Wan probably hadn't known that he was the Fullmetal Alchemist. Ed groaned. He should have told them. He could have avoided this entire mess if he had.

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Before they got to the train station, Obi-Wan abruptly changed his mind. He thought about Alphonse for a moment. If nothing else, he at least deserved to know what had happened to his brother.

He found the hotel fairly quickly. Al was there, and he recognized Obi-Wan after a moment. He listened quietly to the story, and agreed to help them get back to Resembool.

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Once they had gotten into space, Obi-Wan made a report to Mace Windu, including some details about Ed's life in the past ten years. The Jedi Master was interested to know about Ed, probably because alchemy was unheard of in the rest of the galaxy, and it had the potential to be more useful than the force.

"I find it interesting that this boy is the first person you met on that planet. Strange that things turned out this way."

Ergh. I don't feel like writing this part right now, so… Mace Windu goes off to where the dudes took Ed and stuff…

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Ed sat in a corner of the room. He was tired, but he wouldn't let himself fall asleep. There were too many unanswered questions, the most important being why he had been kidnapped. It's not like his status mattered in some other world.

He looked up as a door opened. The guy from earlier came into the room, with two strange creatures behind him. It was at this point that Ed completely believed every word of what Qui-Gon had told him ten years before.

"Come on, it's time to go."

Ed stood up, his mind racing. Depending on the circumstances, he could find a way out on his own, but he'd have to wait for a while. He had no idea where he was, much less which way he should go to get out. Besides, even if he could get out, there wasn't a very good chance of getting back to his world.

Ed sighed as he followed the man. Things weren't looking too good. Ed was surprised that they hadn't bothered to take his arm out. Then again, it's not like having his arm would do much good. Ed looked at the crazy-looking gun the man had. Ed doubted that a metal blade would do much good against it.

As if he could read Ed's thoughts, the man put a hand on Ed's shoulder and smiled. "You have absolutely no chance of escaping. You should just give up any thoughts you have right now."

That pissed Ed off a great deal, but he held his silence. They had left the ship, and were heading down a long walkway. Ed looked around in amazement. This place was like nothing he'd ever seen before. Everywhere around him were tall buildings and ships flying around.

Before he entered the building, Ed saw something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and looked again, but the man pulled on his braid and Ed continued walking.

Ed paid special attention to where he was being led, which was hard, since all of the hallways looked pretty much the same. Eventually he was pushed into a strangely comfortable room.

"Get some rest. You have to work hard tomorrow."

Before Ed could ask about the type of work, the door slammed behind him and he was alone.

Ed looked around the room. It was interesting that they were willing to make him feel comfortable, or as comfortable as he could be as a captive from a different world. What were they expecting from him?

After a while, Ed noticed something that seemed to follow his every move. He looked at it with some curiosity, and realized that it was a camera. He hadn't dealt with cameras much in his life, and this one was much more high-tech than the ones back home, but it was definitely a camera. Was there somebody watching his every move? The idea bothered him.

After a while, Ed started to get tired. He lay on the small bed and closed his eyes, his back to the camera. He didn't want to fall asleep, but he couldn't help it. He was tired.

---------------

He woke up in the middle of the night. He could hear the sound of approaching footsteps, and he rolled onto his back, trying to act like he was still asleep. When he realized that it was still dark, Ed risked opening an eye. All he could see was an outline of a human reaching for his left arm. Something was in the person's other hand. Ed realized with some shock that it was a syringe (or something along those lines).

Ed panicked. He punched the guy in the face and ran for the door. Of course, there was no way for him to open it, so he transmuted it and ran through. The hallway was empty, so Ed took the time to re-transmute the door so that the guy couldn't follow him. He ran silently through the halls, trying to find his way out.

At one point in time, Ed spotted some people walking towards him. He ducked behind a wall and found himself in a small alcove. He waited silently for the people to pass by, realizing too late that there was somebody behind him (OMG GUESS WHO IT IS!!!).

Before he had time to react, Ed felt a hand cover his face. Ed tried to break free, but he didn't have a chance. Whoever it was happened to be a lot stronger than him. Once the people had passed, he heard a voice in his ear.

"Don't struggle. I'm here to help you."

It took a moment for this to sink in, but it did, and Ed relaxed. The mysterious stranger let go of him and Ed sank to the ground. Moments later an alarm went off.

"I'm surprised it took them this long to realize you'd gotten out."

"Me too, although people tend to underestimate me a lot. How do we get out?"

"I don't know. At this rate, all the exits will be sealed before we can get to one."

"That's not much of an issue."

"Because you're an alchemist?"

Ed ignored the surprise he felt because of this comment. "Yeah."

"Well, keeping that in mind, the best way to go from here is this way."

Ed followed the man, wondering all the while who this person was. Part of him hoped that he was a friend of Obi-Wan's, but he couldn't be sure.

Once they got close to one of the exits, the man stopped Ed before he ran into what looked like a transparent red wall. "You don't want to touch that."

"What is it?"

"Now's not the time for that. This is a dead end."

Ed looked at the places where the red wall met the walls of the corridor. There were small thingies that looked like they were responsible for keeping the wall in place.

"No, it's not."

"There's no way to disable it from here."

"What about this?" Ed clapped his hands together and placed one on the wall. He transmuted the small thingies into something else, and the red wall disappeared. The man looked at Ed with some surprise.

"Don't you need to draw a circle?"

"Don't we need to get out of here?"

"Right." They got to the door, which Ed transmuted to let them through, and disappeared into the night.


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5… and after this, it's gonna be a while before the next part is up, because I have no idea what I'm gonna write… XD

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Once he was sure nobody would be able to find them, Mace Windu began to lead the young alchemist to the rendezvous point with Obi-Wan and Anakin. They had agreed that it would be better for Ed to stay away from his world for a while. Since Ed obviously was very well known, it would be easier for him to hide someplace where few people knew of his existence.

Considering the circumstances, the boy was unusually quiet. It took a moment for him to realize that Ed had probably never seen anything like Coruscant in his life.

"It's different from your world, isn't it?"

"Yeah, a lot different."

"Does it bother you?"

"Um, no, not really." They walked for a while longer in silence. "Where are we going?"

_It took him this long to think of asking that?_ "We're going to meet up with some people."

"Who?"

"Who do you think?"

Ed was silent for a while. "How am I supposed to know?"

_He must be really tired._ "Well, it's people you know."

A very strange look appeared on Ed's face. "Ohhh…"

"Are you feeling all right?" _You're barely walking straight._

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Ed wasn't feeling fine, though. He was tired, and he felt dizzy. As soon as they got to the place, which happened to be a fairly cheap hotel room, Ed collapsed. He fell asleep almost right away, which provided instant relief from the uckiness he was feeling.

---------------

When Ed woke up, he still wasn't doing too well. He kept his eyes closed for a while, not wanting to move. Luckily for him, he didn't have to. He heard a familiar voice coming from nearby.

"Are you feeling any better?" It was Anakin.

"No," Ed replied, sounding fairly irritated. He _was_ fairly irritated, actually. He didn't want to be sick right now.

"Obi-Wan told your brother what happened."

_Oh, great, so my brother knows how much of an idiot I am now?_ "That's nice."

"Why didn't you tell us who you were? It would have saved us a lot of trouble."

"How the hell was I supposed to know you were looking for me?"

"We weren't looking for you, we were looking for the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"And if you had said that, I could have mentioned it."

Anakin was quiet. _Ha, that got him to shut up,_ Ed thought.

"What happened to your house?"

"You mean like, why it's gone?"

"Yeah."

"We burned it down."

"You burned it down? Why?"

Ed sighed. "You know what Al and I are trying to do, right?"

"No, not really."

_Argh, I am _not_ going to explain this to him._ "Well, it doesn't really matter. The main thing is, what we want to do is hard. There's a chance that we might not succeed at all, or something worse could end up happening. We had to make sure we wouldn't try to turn back."

Ed's eyes were still closed. There was no noise in the room, except for the humming of some unknown object. After a while, Ed opened his eyes. He saw Anakin stand up and walk over to him.

"I'm guessing you want to know how you're going to get back to your world."

Ed nodded. He didn't have much energy.

"We're going to wait here for a while, until you can do simple things without passing out on the floor."

_You're starting to piss me off right now…_

"Then we're going take a very long and complicated route back to your world. It'll be long and complicated so that there's less of a chance of somebody finding you."

"Who exactly was after me in the first place?"

"We don't know the details, but somebody was intending to use the powers of the Fullmetal Alchemist to lead a rebellion, or something along those lines."

"I have another question. Why would they need me? Is my planet the only one that uses alchemy?"

"As far as we know."

"But it's not like I'm the only alchemist."

"But you have a reputation."

"So does the Flame Alchemist."

"Maybe they thought it'd be easier to get their hands on a kid."

"But I got out."

"Only because you were helped by Master Windu."

"I could have made it out on my own."

"You said there's a flame alchemist?" (way to change the subject XD)

"Yeah, he specializes in exploding stuff."

"Well, maybe they came after you because of what you specialize in."

_Damn, that actually makes sense._ Ed closed his eyes again. He was so tired… so…

----------------

Obi-Wan returned to the hotel room late in the afternoon. Ed was sleeping with his back turned to the room. Obi-Wan went over to check on him before giving Anakin something.

"Did he wake up at all?"

"Yeah, once. He was talking in his sleep for a while, but then he stopped."

"What did he say?"

"He kept apologizing to somebody. He didn't say a name, though."

Obi-Wan looked over at Ed's sleeping form. "It was probably his brother. Either way, don't ask him about it."

"I won't."

Ed rolled over onto his back, still asleep. Obi-Wan walked over to the bed and placed a hand on Ed's forehead. Almost immediately he pulled it back.

"He's getting worse."

-----------------

Since they couldn't take Ed to a hospital, Obi-Wan had a doctor visit the hotel room. Ed was awake when he came in, but he wasn't all there. Eventually, the doctor gave Ed some DRUGZ that knocked him out cold.

"It's nothing serious, just a simple virus combined with stress. You said this is the first time he's left his home planet?"

"Yes, it is."

"What kind of environment does he live in?"

"Well, the climate is fairly diverse, but he grew up in a small mountain valley. Not very many people there."

"I see. This is an interesting type of prosthetic limb. I've never seen anything like it. It looks fairly primitive, though."

"The technology on his world isn't very advanced. This boy is actually the first one to ever leave that world."

"Interesting. Well, just give him a few days and he should recover."

"Thank you."

----------------

Ed woke up to the sounds of people talking. He looked over and saw the man from before talking to Obi-Wan. Anakin was sitting on the couch. He looked bored.

Ed sat up. He was still tired, but he felt considerably better. The DRUGZ had really helped. Maybe now somebody would tell him what was going on.

It took a moment for Ed to realize how futile that hope was. The one guy left the room with Obi-Wan after acknowledging Ed's existence, and Anakin threw Ed's shirt at him. "We're leaving today. Get dressed."

Ed pulled on his shirt and stood up. _I wonder where they're going,_ he thought. Once he was sure he wouldn't fall on his face from exhaustion, Ed walked over to the couch. Anakin stood up and hit Ed on the back. "Way to not die," he remarked as they headed to the door.

"Gee, thanks," Ed replied as he stuck his hand in his pocket. His watch wasn't there.

"Oh, before I forget, here's your watch." Anakin gave Ed the watch. "Shouldn't you take better care of it?"

"Oh, yeah, like that thing's the most important thing in my life."

"Well, you did join the military for the privileges, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I like it."

"What's wrong with it?"

Ed sighed. _What do you think is wrong with it, retard? Oh, wait, you work for some government thing or something…_ "The country of Amestris has been constantly fighting wars for around sixty years, mostly just to gain territory. You add that to the fact that many officials are corrupt, and it's easy to see why everybody hates it so much."

"Oh. So, you're working for a government that everybody hates? Doesn't that bother you?"

"It does. I've made a lot of enemies, and I don't have the best reputation."

"But you can deal with that?"

"My reputation doesn't matter to me. All I care about is restoring my brother."

At the end of the hallway, they met up with Obi-Wan. He had appeared out of nowhere, as if he was just hiding behind the corner. He didn't say anything, but he looked as if he were proud of Ed.

As a matter of fact, Obi-Wan was proud of Ed, or at least impressed with what he had heard him say. One of his worries concerning Anakin was arrogance/pride. He needed to humble himself. And here was a fifteen-year-old boy, who was willing to go give up his reputation for the sake of his brother. Not only that, but he had given up an arm. They had to have a strong bond. And it didn't help Ed at all that he had to be separated from his brother.

They made their way to a nearby shuttle station. The plan was to get to the other side of the planet, and stay there for a while. It was doubtful Ed would realize that he was still on the same planet. Obi-Wan didn't like to deceive Ed, but there wasn't a choice. New information had come in. The enemy was waiting for Ed to return to his home planet. It was crucial that they think Ed wouldn't return. Otherwise he would be killed.

He watched as Ed looked around at the shuttle. It wasn't much, by Coruscant's standards, but it was most likely overwhelming for the alchemist. After all, they had stayed at a cheap hotel that didn't have much in the way of technology. It was better for Ed if he adjusted to technology slowly.

------------------

Actually, Ed wasn't very impressed by the shuttle. Sure, there wasn't anything like it back home, but it still didn't look like much. He just had to hope it ran better than it looked.

He looked over at Obi-Wan before he sat down. Obi-Wan was very calm, which threw Ed off. How did he manage to be like that all the time? Even the Colonel lost his cool at times, mostly whenever Ed did something stupid, though.

The ride didn't take very long. Obi-Wan had said they were going to transfer shuttles, which didn't surprise him at all. It was painfully obvious that he couldn't go directly home. The knowledge bothered him. He didn't want to keep Al waiting.

They got off at a station on the other side of the planet. Ed looked around, and saw some interesting buildings. One of them contained a very high, skinny tower. Ed turned back to the matter at hand. Obi-Wan and Anakin were leading him out of the station.

That was a bit much for Ed. He understood that they had to take a roundabout route to get back, but why were they leaving the station? Was there another station, or were they just stalling for time?

Obi-Wan answered Ed's question once they got to a hotel. According to him, the shuttle they were going to catch wouldn't arrive for a few more days. Ed didn't completely believe that story, but he accepted it, since he didn't have any other way to get home.


	6. Chapter 6

Ha ha, shortest chapter ever! But oh well, it's up now… and hopefully I'll be inspired soon, because to be honest, I'm kinda stuck right now…

Colonel Roy Mustang walked down the street from the military headquarters, playing with his watch. He was glad to be out of the meeting he had been through for the past several hours, but now he had to sit on a train for the rest of the day, so he had politely refused a ride to the station. He'd been to Central enough times to know the way from military HQ to the train station.

While on his way, he noticed a familiar suit of armor walking down the street. He waved at Alphonse and walked over.

"Nice to see you, Alphonse. Where's your brother?"

Al paused for a moment. "He's… taking care of something."

Roy raised an eyebrow. Something told him Al was lying. "Taking care of what?"

"Uh, he didn't tell me."

"Why wouldn't he?"

Al shrugged. Roy raised an eyebrow. "You aren't lying to me, are you?"

"N-no, I really have no idea where he is."

Roy sighed. "Listen, if he's in danger, then I'm responsible for him, remember? Did he say where he was headed?"

"No, I have no idea."

At that moment, a soldier ran up to Roy and saluted. "I'm glad I caught you, sir. There's a report that the Fullmetal Alchemist has been captured. Your superiors here want you to find him."

Roy looked at Al with raised eyebrows. "Why didn't you tell me he had been kidnapped?"

Al paused. "Long story…"

"Well, I'd like to hear it," Roy said as he walked with the soldier back to HQ.

------------

It was quiet in the hotel room. Ed lay on his bed with his head resting on his arms, staring at the ceiling. He realized that he should have been asleep a while ago, but he wasn't tired in the least. He was thinking about his brother.

He heard a noise and looked to see Obi-Wan standing next to him. "Not tired?"

"No, not really."

"Something wrong?"

Ed thought about it for a while. "I don't know. I just want to get back to my brother."

"Did you ever hear from your father again?"

Ed shook his head. "No. He probably forgot about us. If he's still alive." Ed realized he sounded bitter, but he didn't care.

"Ed, have you ever thought that maybe there's a reason he hasn't contacted you? Maybe he's in a dangerous situation."

"No, I don't think so. He didn't act like it when he left, and if he really cared about his family, he would have at least said something to her… Besides, it's not like the military or anyone keeps a close eye on Resembool. There's barely anything there anymore."

"Did something happen?"

Ed paused for a moment. "Did you ever hear about the Ishbal Civil War?"

"Yes, I did."

"Some Ishbalans attacked Resembool during that war. That's also the war that took Winry's parents away."

"They were killed?"

"Yeah. We don't know who did it, but that's what happened." Ed paused. "Yeah, a lot can happen in ten years."

"Come to think of it, I didn't see Winry when we met you the this time."

"No, she was asleep after pulling an all-nighter to fix this," Ed said as he pointed at his arm. Just then, there was someone at the door. Obi-Wan stood up.

"You should go to sleep. Staying up and worrying won't do you any good."

Ed nodded and rolled over on his side as Obi-Wan left the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Another short chapter… yeah, go me!

-------------

"How did he react to being here for a while longer?" Master Windu asked Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan looked at the door of the hotel room. "He's been amazingly calm about it all, but he's making it obvious that he wants to go home. He also seems bored."

"He's probably not used to all this waiting around. It probably doesn't help that we can't let him leave the room at all. Did you learn anything else?"

"Nothing significant. He hasn't said anything about the current situation, either, other than that he wants to get back to his brother. He's-"

Just then, Obi-Wan felt a disturbance in the force (OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG cough sorry…). The two of them went back into the room, where Ed was still asleep. Anakin had woken up and was completely alert. Someone was coming, most likely for Ed.

Whoever it was most likely realized that Ed was being protected, because the threat soon vanished. Even so, they decided to get Ed away from Coruscant as soon as they could.

------------------

Ed was bored out of his mind. He sat staring at the ceiling, wanting the trip to be over so that he could go home. He heard voices in the distance, and his interest peaked when he heard them mention alchemy. Ed shifted slightly in his seat and tried to listen to the conversation. Obi-Wan was sitting nearby, but Ed couldn't tell what he was doing, so he returned to listening to the conversation.

"Are you sure it's okay to talk about this here?"

"Why not? It's not like there's anyone here who knows what we're talking about. Anyway, here's what I'm thinking. That boy's probably on his way back now, so we should give him a nice little welcome home party."

"Yeah, but where does he live?"

"Don't worry about that. I have it all figured out."

After a while, the conversation moved on to different, unimportant things. Ed sat quietly in his seat, waiting even more impatiently for the trip to be over.

----------------

"They made it painfully obvious," Ed said, looking back at the transport they had just exited.

"No, I don't think it was meant to be so obvious. They had no way of knowing you'd be right there."

"Even so, would those people be stupid enough to send people like that after me? It doesn't make sense. Unless…"

"Are you thinking that those two were decoys?" Obi-Wan asked before Ed could finish his sentence. "That's probably true. The only question is, were they purposely put on that transport as a trap?"

Ed blinked. "But how would they know…"

"That's my greatest concern. If they know where we went, then they probably know where we are right now. Try not to draw attention to yourself."

"I usually try not to," Ed muttered.

"You say that, and yet your name is known throughout your country," Anakin remarked. Ed shot him a death glare just before tripping and landing on his face.

"Didn't I just say not to draw attention to yourself?" Obi-Wan asked with a laugh as he helped Ed to his feet.

"That wasn't my fault," Ed said, picking up the crumpled piece of paper that had caused him to lose his balance. He could see a transmutation circle drawn on it. "What…"

"What is that?" Anakin asked.

"It's a transmutation circle. Not a very complex one, but whoever made this knows what they're doing."

"I bet it's another trap."

Ed looked around, finally spotting what he was looking for. "Yeah, it's a trap, but not the kind you're thinking of." He gestured to a wall that seemed to have been recently transmuted. Seconds later, a buttload of people dropped down from the surrounding buildings and advanced on the trio.

-------------

AHAHAHAHAHAHACLIFFHANGER! That's it for now, folks, but I'm almost at the point where I can actually write this story again!


	8. Chapter 8

Ah, yes, next part. Um, no big important things for me to say about it, so yeah… here ya go…

------------------

"Okay, how the heck did they manage to fit a hundred people on the rooftops without us noticing?" Ed muttered, bringing his hands together and forming a blade on his arm.

"I noticed it a while ago," Anakin replied.

"Well, good for you," Ed shot back just as someone tried rushing him. Ed dodged the man and cut his belt, causing the man to become entangled in his pants. Ed took a moment to laugh before continuing the fight. It took him a moment to realize that they weren't aiming to kill any of the three.

After a bit, they managed to get far enough away for Ed to get a chance to use alchemy. He made a wall behind them and collapsed on the ground panting.

"Jeez, what the hell was that?" he asked.

"We can figure that out later, but right now we need a plan."

"Right…" Ed said, knocking on the wall with his right hand. "First off, we need to see if there's really an alchemist here. That's probably the biggest-"

Ed didn't finish that sentence, because at that moment, there was a flash of light and the wall changed shape, putting Ed on the wrong side of it. Ed lost his balance and fell on his back. He looked up to see a bunch of people pointing their weapons at him. "Oh, crap," he muttered, just as he saw two shadows on top of the wall. Ed used the distraction to stand up and use alchemy to knock most of the people out. After a while, only two people were left. One ran off when he realized what had happened, but the other stood her ground, glaring at Ed. Ed was startled to see how young the person was. She was just about Ed's age.

Before any of them could react, she pulled out a piece of paper and placed it on the ground beneath her hand. The ground moved, but Ed saw it coming and easily avoided it. In an instant, the girl was completely disarmed.

-----------------

Ed sat in the back of a very small ship, right next to the female alchemist, who was constantly trying to kick him. Eventually it got to the point where Ed couldn't stand it any more.

"Hey, what's your problem?" he asked. The girl stuck her tongue out at him and turned away.

"That's none of your business," she replied.

"Yeah, as if I'd believe that," Ed shot back.

"Figures someone from the military would be such a jerk."

"What? Hello, you're the one who started it!"

"So? You're the one who's a stinking dog of the military!"

Ed paused. "So that's your reason? Because you don't like the military?" he asked quietly.

"Would _you_ like them after they destroyed your home and killed off everyone in your family?"

Ed was quiet for a while. "No, I wouldn't. I barely like it now."

"Then why are you in it?"

"That's none of your business."

There was a long, drawn-out silence. After a while, Ed looked back over at her. "What happened to your family?" he asked quietly.

"They were Ishbalans. The only reason I made it out is because my mother was smart and sent me away. And then nobody ever realized where I came from because of how I look." She looked Ed straight in the eyes. Her eyes were a mix between blue and green. "My mom had an affair with someone, so I'm only half Ishbalan. Since I don't have red eyes, and my skin's lighter than most Ishbalans, nobody made the connection, even though I was living with my uncle, who was clearly an Ishbalan."

"So that's why you hate the military?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, that's right, shorty."

If the two of them had been alone, Ed would have punched her in the face hard enough to break her nose and knock out all her teeth, but since Obi-Wan was two feet away, Ed was silent, choosing instead to give the girl a death glare. She smirked and turned away.

-----------------

Ed looked up at the stars, trying to think of something to say to the girl. They were standing out on the balcony of a small hotel room, hundreds of feet above the ground. Obi-Wan had decided that the female alchemist wouldn't be a danger to Ed, especially since she had nothing she could draw with. After a bit, she hoisted herself up on the railing and sat staring at the door.

"You know, you could fall off if you sit like that," Ed muttered.

"Yeah, I know, but I'm careful when I do things like this. I'll be fine."

"Why did you help them?" Ed asked.

"Didn't I already tell you? I have a score to settle with the military."

"Yeah, but why did you choose to do that? There's plenty of ways to strike against the military."

"Well, I guess it's because they asked me. If they hadn't, I probably would have joined a terrorist organization or something."

Ed sighed. "So they just walked up to you and asked if you wanted to travel around the galaxy and kidnap some kid?"

"You're saying you're just 'some kid?' I thought you'd be a little more proud of your rank, regardless of the heartless organization you're working for."

"I never wanted to join the military, so why would I care about my rank?"

"If you never wanted to join, then why did you?"

"Like I said, that's none of your business."

"Do you think I care? You know my secret, so why can't I know yours?"

Ed paused. "I… Okay, you really want to know?"

"Yes, I do."

"Fine. I joined because I did something really stupid and I want to find a way to help my brother."

"So you're taking advantage of the power you get from being a dog of the military?"

"Pretty much."

The girl looked up at the stars. "You really are a moron."

Ed sighed. "Yeah, I know. But, I don't know what else I can do. Besides, I try not to hurt anybody that doesn't deserve it."

"So you're fine with hurting people who do deserve it? What kinds of people deserve that?"

"People who've been hurting others. Sometimes they're in the military, sometimes they're not."

"So you get back at corrupt officials?" the girl laughed. "Maybe you're not so bad after all."

"Hey, what's your name?" Ed asked.

The girl shrugged. "You mean the name I was born with or the one I go by?"

"Just… whatever you want me to call you."

"Okay… well, I don't really have a good name at the moment, so just call me Jessica. That's the name my mom gave me. Or actually, just call me Jess. It's easier. You're Edward Elric, right?"

Ed nodded and turned back to the sky. "I'll be glad when we're back. I've had enough of this."

"Enough of what?"

"Having to be separated from my brother. I don't think we've ever been apart for this long."

Jess jumped off of the railing and leaned against it instead. "I know that feeling. Before that war, I was always with my family, and now…" she jumped lightly to the floor and walked to the door. "I'm tired. See ya tomorrow."


	9. Chapter 9

After a long trip, they finally made it to the country of Amestris. Ed stretched as they walked through Resembool toward the station. "Hey, why do you always land here?" he asked, ignoring Jess as she began to play with his braid.

"It's simple if you think about it," Obi-Wan replied. Ed sighed as they came to the station. One of the station workers, a man Ed knew from his childhood, came up to him and saluted.

"I'm glad you're here. Colonel Mustang told me to send you to East City if you came by here."

"What does he want?"

"I don't know, but he said it's an order."

Ed groaned. "Right. Thanks for telling me."

The man shrugged. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, he also said your brother was with him."

Ed went back to his companions, who were waiting to board the train for Central. "We're not going to Central," Ed said as he walked up to them.

"Why not?" Jess asked.

"Because that stupid Colonel Mustang is making me go to East City, probably to make me do something he's too lazy to do himself."

Ed sat on the bench to wait. Jess went back to messing around with Ed's hair. "Well, that's what you get for being a dog of the military."

"You don't have to rub it in," Ed muttered. "It'd be a lot better if I were under someone other than the Colonel."

Anakin sat next to Ed and began messing with his Amestrian clothes. Ed looked back at Jess to see what she was doing. She had put it into pigtails and was tying little ribbons into it. Ed jerked his head away and stood up.

"Will you quit it?" he asked angrily, drawing amused looks from the other people at the station.

"Why? It's fun," she replied with a smirk.

Ed pulled the ribbons out of his hair and put it back into a braid. "Hey, do you realize just how much trouble you could get into?"

"For messing with your hair?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure your big scary military friends will get back at me for this. Just like all the other people who've tried to get me arrested due to my actions. But for some reason, nobody ever believes them," Jess said, giving Ed an incredibly out-of-character look of sheer sorrow.

"That won't work on the Colonel," Ed replied.

"Sure it won't."

----------------

After a long train ride, they finally arrived in East City. Ed went straight to headquarters, dragging Jess with him. He agreed to meet Obi-Wan and Anakin later in the day.

Once he arrived at the gates, he ran into First Lieutenant Hawkeye, who pointed at Jess in confusion.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"Long story," Ed replied. "What does the Colonel want?"

"He didn't tell me, but it seems to be important, so you should go up right away. Alone."

Ed looked at Jess, who glared right back. He sighed and let go of her sleeve. Surprisingly, she didn't try to run. As Ed went into the main building, he could tell she was chatting with Lieutenant Hawkeye. He sighed as he walked up the stairs to Roy's office.

He had barely knocked on the door when it opened and a gloved hand yanked him inside. Before he could figure out what was going on, Ed found himself sitting right in front of the Colonel. Roy towered over of the young alchemist, and Ed could see Al standing in the distance. Al waved shyly at his brother, who was still dealing with the fact that Roy looked very, very angry.

"What were you thinking, Fullmetal?" he asked, glaring at Ed. "You don't just walk into a building full of terrorists and expect everything to work out wonderfully!"

"Well, how the hell was I supposed to know what would have happened?" Ed shot right back.

"It's called common sense!" Roy shouted in exasperation. He walked back over to his desk and picked up some papers. "Do you really think it's a coincidence that this terrorist organization came into being the same day that your friends arrived from whatever planet they're from?"

"How the hell was I supposed to know about that?"

Roy paused. "You could easily have asked for some background information before going in there. But no, you just ran straight in without any knowledge of what they wanted or what they were up to! Honestly, Fullmetal, I thought you were smarter than this."

Ed scowled. "Figures you'd find some way to blame all this on me," he muttered as he stood up. "So is that all you wanted me for? So you could shout in my face right in front of my brother? Thanks a lot."

"No, that's not all. There's still a chance that someone will come after you, so I'm placing you under surveillance for the next month. If you don't like it, then that's too bad."

Ed's jaw dropped to the floor. "What, you mean I have to stay here?"

"That's right. You are not to leave military headquarters without an escort, and you will stay in East City until I'm sure we won't have anyone else coming after you."

"You can't do that!" Ed shouted.

"Yes, I can. I outrank you," Roy said with an evil grin. Ed was about to tackle him when Al intervened.

"Come on, brother, it won't be that bad."

Ed sighed and walked toward the door. Just as he was about to leave, he remembered something.

"Oh, by the way, something interesting happened on the way back," he said.

"Really? Interesting as in something that astounded you and doesn't need to be shared, or something important that involves this case?"

"Something important. We found a girl, and she's an alchemist. She was working with the enemy when we caught her."

"Oh? Where is she now?"

"With Lieutenant Hawkeye."

"Good. At least you have enough sense to not let someone like that go."

-----------------

It was late at night before Roy finally let Ed go and stay at a hotel. Even then he had to stay with his Jedi companions, but Ed figured this was better than having a military escort. Jess had been taken into military custody.

Ed sighed as he sat in the hotel room with his brother. Obi-Wan was sitting nearby, messing with some random thingy. After a while, he stood up and left the room, giving Ed a chance to speak to his brother in private.

"Hey, Ed?" Al said quietly.

"Hmm?"

"Why were you nice to that girl?"

"What, you mean Jess?"

"Yeah. It's not like you to be so forgiving towards people who try to hurt you."

Ed fell back on the bed and put his hands behind his head. "Well… the military killed her family, so I guess it's because she has a good reason to hate me."

"That's strangely out of character for you, brother."

"Excuse me?" Ed asked.

"Are you sure it isn't because she's cute?" Al asked. His face showed no expression, but he was definitely grinning evilly. Ed blushed.

"No way, like I'd ever fall in love with her."

"Oh, right. Your heart belongs to Winry."

Ed threw a pillow at his brother. "Hey! I'm not going after girls right now, Al. I'm trying to find a way to get your body back, remember?"

"Oh, is that your excuse for not having a girlfriend?"

Ed sighed in exasperation. "Now look who's being out of character. Al, this has nothing to do with love, remember?"

"What about brotherly love? You still love me, right?"

"As a brother, yes. I just hope nobody takes that the wrong way."

"You mean like everybody mistaking our relationship for a romantic one? Who would do that?"

Ed shrugged. "I'm sure there's people out there who would."

Al laughed. "I'm glad you're back."

"Me too. I hated being stuck out there. Even though those two are nice and all, I'd rather be here, finding a way to get your body back."

"Speaking of which, the Colonel found something out that might help us."

"Which is?"

"He said there's rumors going around about a town that's making a philosopher's stone. We can go there after this is over."

Ed smiled. "That'd be nice," he muttered as he closed his eyes.


	10. Chapter 10

Yeah, this is a pretty short chapter, but I figure, it's better than nothing, right? Enjoy.

---------------

Jess sat in a small room with Lieutenant Havoc. Havoc had a cigarette in his hand and looked fairly irritated.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" she asked.

"Thanks to you, I had to cancel a date. My first date in a _really_ long time. Now the girl will probably never talk to me again."

"Oh, quit complaining. It's not my fault that freak picked you to watch me."

Havoc was about to retort when they heard a crash. He pulled out his gun and opened the door. Jess stood behind the Second Lieutenant, waiting for him to say something. Just then, she felt a hand on her mouth. She tried to get Havoc's attention, but he had gone out into the hall.

By the time Havoc had returned to the room, Jess had disappeared completely, or almost completely. On her bed was a note. Havoc picked up the note and looked at it.

_You people are pathetic when it comes to protecting someone you don't want kidnapped._

---------------

Ed sat around in his hotel room, bored out of his mind. After a while, Anakin came into the room.

"They want you at military headquarters."

"Huh? Why?" Ed asked as he pulled on his shoes.

"I don't know, but it's obviously something important."

Ed walked with Anakin through East City. Once he was at Roy's office, he knocked cautiously on the door, wondering what he was going to have to deal with this time. Roy opened the door for him and had him sit down.

"Jess was abducted last night," he said, getting straight to the point.

"Eh? By who?"

"Most likely by the same people who took you. They probably assumed she was the one they were after, since she was in military custody and you weren't." Roy turned to Ed. "They're probably still on this world. Are you willing to go after her?"

"It's better than sitting around here," Ed replied. "Do we know where they're headed?"

"Why do you think we'd know something like that, Fullmetal? It's not like-" Roy was interrupted by a knock at the door. Sergeant Major Fuery cautiously opened the door and handed Roy a report.

"We just received a call from a terrorist group. They're demanding a trade-off."

"A trade? What do they want?"

"They want to exchange the lives of a young girl for the Fullmetal Alchemist."

Ed and Roy exchanged glances. "Well," Ed said. "I guess that solves that problem."

------------

Ed and Roy were driving down a road in the country. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Roy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine with it. If those people are stupid enough to kidnap the wrong person, I doubt they'll be capable of doing anything to me."

Roy sighed. "You stopped thinking again."

"No, I'm thinking just fine, Colonel. I know this could be a trap."

"And you're fine with that?"

"Hey, what are the odds that they'll expect me to surrender so easily?"

Roy sighed. "Pretty good," he said, but Ed wasn't listening. He was looking out the window at a large, abandoned building. Once they were close, Roy stopped the car and let Ed out. "Be careful, okay? And think before you act. I don't want to have to come after you."

Ed waved a hand as he walked toward the building. As he walked, two people walked toward him. Ed recognized them both. One was one of the two Ed had seen on the way home, and the other was Jess. Once they had met, the man pushed Jess away and grabbed Ed's wrist. Ed looked back as the man pulled him away. Jess stood staring at him for a while. Ed waved as he was pulled inside. At that, Jess turned and walked away.

Inside the building were two other people. They pointed their weapons at Ed as the other man pulled his hands behind his back and tied them together. Then he pushed Ed to the ground before going up to his buddies. They held a whispered conversation in a language Ed didn't recognize before one of them walked up to him.

"You're being awfully quiet today. I thought you'd be a little more active."

Ed quietly glared at the man. The man laughed and kneeled in front of Ed. "In a few hours, you'll be saying goodbye to this world. For good."

"Is that so?" Ed replied quietly, a smile creeping across his face. The man stood up, a look of confusion on his face.

"Hey, what's with this kid? He's acting weird," he said, turning to his companions. Ed used this opportunity to transmute a blade on his arm. He used it to cut through the ropes binding his hands and jumped into the air, cleanly slicing the gun in the man's hand. Before the man could react, Ed had done the same to the other two, and was heading for the window. He jumped out and quickly transmuted the building so that the three wouldn't be able to escape.

As Ed ran around to the front of the building, he saw something rather startling. Two people were standing there. They seemed to be waiting for him.

Ed ran toward them, not knowing what else to do. As soon as he got close, he recognized them. One was the terrorist who had dragged him into this mess, and the second was the one who had been in the ship with him. Ed looked around, trying to find something to use against them. He saw a pile of boxes to his right.

Just as the two got close enough to tackle the small alchemist, Ed jumped onto one of the boxes. From there, he climbed onto the roof of the building and ran to the other side. He looked back to see the two struggling to climb after him. Ed waited until they were climbing onto the roof before jumping to the ground below, landing on his left leg and right arm. He rose from the ground and sprinted for the road. Just beyond the gate stood Anakin and Obi-Wan.

"Are they coming?" Obi-Wan asked, standing quietly behind the wall.

"Yeah, they'll be here any second now," Ed replied as he caught his breath. "Where's the Colonel?"

"He's nearby. Can you make a hole in the ground?"

"Sure," Ed replied as he brought his hands together. "Where?"

"Right there's good."

Right after Ed made the hole, the two came running through the gate. They stopped when they saw the hole, but an explosion from behind them sent them flying straight into it. Ed looked over at the building. Roy was standing in front of the door with a smug look on his face. Ed could see Roy's subordinates nearby.

-----------

Yeah, really short chapter…


	11. Chapter 11

Ah, update… took me long enough, didn't it? .;;

Enjoy.

-------------------

Ed frowned as they drove back to East City. Something about the day had seemed very off to him. Roy sat next to him in the back seat of the car. He looked at Ed with interest.

"Something wrong, Fullmetal?"

"Is it just me, or did all that seem way too easy?"

"Well, we had a lot working in our favor."

"That's not what I meant."

Roy looked at Ed again. "I know what you mean, but just because something's easy doesn't make it a problem. Sometimes you just get lucky."

"But I don't think this is one of those times. Considering all the effort they put into catching me the first time, why would this time be easier for us?"

"Fullmetal, you need to quit worrying. It's not like I think this is the end of this. We're going to be watching out for anything suspicious for a while. We'll also be keeping a closer eye on the three of you."

"Three?"

"Yes, you brothers and your little friend."

"She's not my friend," Ed muttered. "She hates the military."

"Did she say why?"

"Yeah, she's from Ishbal. Apparently she only managed to get out because she didn't look like one."

Roy's eyes narrowed. "I guess her eyes saved her life."

Ed tried to see what Roy was thinking, but the Colonel's face was emotionless. Ed gave up and leaned against the window. They were almost in the city.

-----------------

Once they arrived in Roy's office, the small group began discussing the events. Five minutes into the discussion, it became painfully clear that Ed would be of no help, so he was sent to hang out with Jess.

Ed was sprawled out on the couch when Jess started messing with his hair again.

"Will you quit it?" Ed asked, sitting up rather abruptly and pulling his hair a little too hard. Jess had a very good grip on it.

"No. I'm bored, and this is the only thing in this stinking place that amuses me."

"How is my hair that amusing?"

"I've never really met anyone with light hair before, or at least not anyone with hair as light as yours. It's pretty."

"So you're messing with it because you think it's pretty?"

"Yeah. It goes well with your eyes."

Ed rolled his eyes and lay back down. Jess continued to play with his hair until the door opened, and Roy came into the room. Ed sat up and checked his hair to make sure there wasn't anything too girly in it. There was, but he didn't realize it.

"All right, Fullmetal. Here's the deal. Those two are going to return to Coruscant or wherever with the suspects that aren't from this world. The one that is will remain here for us to deal with. The three of you will go as far as Resembool with the Jedi. Lieutenants Havoc and Hawkeye will be escorting you. You will stay there until we can figure out what's going on. Understood?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Oh, and if you want a dress, I'm sure we can find you one."

Ed blinked. "Excuse me?"

Both Roy and Jess had smug grins on their faces. Since Roy happened to outrank him, Ed turned on Jess. "What is with you?"

Jess laughed. "I think it shows your more sensitive side, wouldn't you agree, Mr. Mustang?"

Roy was clearly enjoying this opportunity to taunt his young subordinate. "Indeed it does. All we need to do is give him a teddy bear and he'll look like an angel."

"Can we give him a halo?"

"Yeah, and wings."

"Oh! I have a blue skirt that would look perfect with that!"

"What is with you people?" Ed practically shouted before storming out of the room. He barely made it into the hall before Roy grabbed his shirt by the collar and pulled him back inside.

"All jokes aside, Fullmetal, I don't want you leaving this room. Lieutenant Hawkeye will stay with you for the night, and we'll have soldiers patrolling the halls, but I want you to be alert when you're actually awake."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be alert."

"Good. I'll be back later with a halo and some clothes that would be more fitting for your sensitive side."

---------------

Ed could hardly believe it. Despite numerous protests on his part, they had actually dressed him up in order for him to fit his 'sensitive side,' and to disguise him in case someone was still looking for him. Ed walked moodily through the train station with the little party, shooting death glares at Jess whenever he could.

As they got on the train, Ed reached up to his head to take out one of the ribbons. Jess smacked his hand before he could. "Hey, what do you think you're doing? Don't mess with the disguise, I spent all night working on it!"

"Yeah, right!"

Riza, who was sitting just behind Ed, turned around and began fixing one of the ribbons. "Seriously, Edward, don't take these out. It may feel ridiculous, but it's surprisingly good when it comes to hiding your identity."

Ed looked to his brother for help, but Al just shrugged. "It's true."

Ed gave up and folded his arms. "Fine. You just managed to kill off the last of my pride, but I guess it's worth it to you."

Ed heard a noise behind him. He sat up and looked at Riza, who was concentrating intensely on polishing her gun. He sat down again. He could have sworn she had been laughing.

-------------

Winry was waiting for Ed at the train station. Her reaction to Ed's new look was about what he had expected. She took one look at him and covered her face. Ed could hear the sounds of muffled laughter.

"Oh, great, you too?" Ed asked.

Winry finally calmed down. "Sorry. I didn't know that you'd come looking like that."

"Yeah, well, neither did I."

Winry looked at the two Lieutenants accompanying Ed. She paused when she saw Riza. As they walked to the Rockbell home, Ed could tell the two were not going to be paying attention to him any time soon. When Jess got included in the girl talk, Ed reached a hand up to the ribbons. This time, Havoc stopped him.

"Nice try, but we're not there yet."

Ed put his hand down. "Oh, come on. We're two feet away."

"It doesn't matter. Listen, when we get there, you three need to stay inside. We have to take care of the deal with those prisoners, so I'll be watching you on my own. I'd appreciate it if you could make my life somewhat easier."

"What, did you miss out on another possible date because of this?"

Havoc didn't reply. Ed looked back and saw that the Second Lieutenant had tears in his eyes, and he assumed that the answer was yes.

As soon as he was inside, Ed reached once again for the ribbons. This time nobody stopped him, and Ed pulled them all out within moments. Pinako greeted the visitors with a smile. "So I guess you'll be staying here for a while?"

"That's right," Havoc replied. "I'm Lieutenant Jean Havoc. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Rockbell."

As introductions were made, Ed meandered over to the board that held pictures from his childhood. His gaze wandered over them before resting on one that he vaguely remembered being taken. It was one of him and his brother. Their mother stood behind them, a smile on her face. Havoc wandered over to where Ed was standing and looked at the same picture.

"So that's what Al really looks like, huh?"

Ed nodded.

"I take it that's your mom with you there?"

"Yep."

"Is your dad in any of these pictures?"

Ed pointed to the one photo that had his father in it. Havoc looked at it, looked back at Ed, and looked at the picture again. "Yeah, I can see the resemblance."

Ed lost interest in the pictures and brought his suitcase to his room. After a while, he got bored and pulled out a ball he and Al and Winry had played with frequently in their childhood. He took it and began bouncing it against the ceiling. Before he knew it, he had begun humming a song they would sing when playing. They had stopped singing it around the time when Winry lost her parents, because they felt they were too old for the whole singing thing. Ed still remembered singing it for Obi-Wan.

"You know, you shouldn't be throwing that inside," Ed heard a familiar voice say from the doorway. Ed looked over and saw Obi-Wan standing with his arms crossed and a small smile on his face.

Ed turned back to the ball and tossed it into the air again. "Yeah, well, I can't go outside, so I guess you'll just have to deal with it." Before he could catch the ball, Obi-Wan used the force to bring it over to him. Ed sat up. "Hey!"

"I'm surprised you managed to keep this in such good shape," Obi-Wan said, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to Ed.

Ed took the ball and looked at it. "Yeah, I had to fix it a few times. Wait, aren't you supposed to be somewhere else?"

"I was told to stay here."

Ed sighed and fell back on the bed, the ball still in his arms. "Is my life really that important?"

"It would seem so."

Ed stared at the ceiling for a while. "I hate this."

"Hate what?"

"I never wanted my name to be famous, and yet everyone in the country seems to know who I am. And look where it's gotten me. I hate it. I just want to fix things, but it's starting to seem I'll never get a chance to."

"This will be over soon. I promise."

Ed stared at the ceiling, his eyes glazed over. After a while, he spoke again. "You never asked about what happened."

"I didn't need to."

"Eh?"

"You spoke about it on your own."

_Ah, crap, I did…_ Ed thought.

Obi-Wan continued. "But I'd like to know the whole story," he said gently.

Ed held the ball in the air, studying it carefully as he thought about how to begin. Then he spoke, his voice quieter than usual. "I guess we did what we did because we were desperate. Funny, that seems to be the theme of our lives now."

--------------

Yeah, it's short, but at least I got something up, eh?


End file.
